Waking up on Christmas eve to my three happy children, the most supportive husband, a beautifully decorated home (luckily we did the decorating prior to my 12/10 surgery), a day full of plans of attending church and being with family instead of sitting in doctors offices or being poked through countless medical tests, I am truly blessed.

I need to start taking this journey one day at a time (recently it’s been one hour at a time) and enjoy the moments as they come.

As for an update on the most recent news I have received regarding my necessary travel. My journey to the Mayo Clinic will begin on 1/5/16 as Rob and I fly to Scottsdale.  The morning of 1/6/16 I will have my consultation with the doctor who will be performing surgery and per the doctors request I will be leaving the afternoon open in case I need to go through any more testing prior to my surgery on 1/8/16.  On 1/7/16, Rob and I will plan something fun to do to distract our minds waiting for surgery day.  I am going to make sure I eat whatever I want this day since I am not going to be able to eat much more than liquids for a while.  (Milkshakes, yogurt, smoothies, pudding, soup get pretty old rather quickly!)

My surgery is scheduled for 1/8/16 with a hospital stay of approximately 3-5 days.  After being discharged from the hospital I will need to stay within “arms reach” of my doctor for approximately 10-14 days.   So, best case scenario the shortest my stay will be is 17 days. That’s 17 days away from my babies.  Although I will not let this cancer kill me; being away from my babies that long just may.

Now Rob and I need to take the next steps to figure out travel arrangements, flights, rental car, hotel accommodations and all the logistics with childcare!  Thank goodness for my wonderful support team in helping with all of this!!!

But for now, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day I am going to try my absolute hardest to think and believe it’s the hap-happiest season of all.  The reality of it is, I am blessed!

 
Merry Christmas!!

It’s working! The power of prayer is working!

When I went through being diagnosed with cancer the first time, I only shared what I was going through with my close family and friends. At first, I was in denial and by the time I wrapped my head around having cancer, I went through my surgeries and it was gone. Well, we (the doctor and I) thought it was gone…

The night of December 9, 2015 (the night prior to my surgery that found the cancer) something hit me. I needed to share what I was going through. So, I posted a Facebook status:

Dear Cancer,

Tomorrow will be surgery #3, but you won’t win. I’m stronger than you think. My babies need me.

Sincerely,
Determined Mom

I’m not the type of person to share a lot of personal things on a social media site, (other than pictures of my beautiful babies) but I got a feeling that I needed to. I am so glad I shared this initial post, because I received SO many encouraging words that made me feel very confident going into my surgery.

It’s been one hell of a journey so far and it’s just the beginning. My head constantly feels like it’s going to explode. Call X person, keep a record of X, look into information on X, schedule X, arrange childcare, breast feed Natalie/pump enough to feed her, remember to bring X, don’t eat before this test, the list goes on and on.

What I am really realizing is that I am SO glad I have opened up and started to share my story. By sharing this information I have received an overwhelming amount of support through prayers, positive thoughts, the sweetest words of encouragement from countless people, surprise gifts in the mail and monetary gifts from over 200 people that all BELIEVE with me!

On December 22, 2015 I received a wonderful call. One of our prayers was answered!  A doctor at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, AZ is going to take me as his patient!!! This phone call alone tells me there is hope!

THANK YOU to my entire support system all over the country. Thank you for:

• Praying with ME!
• Encouraging ME!
• Supporting ME!
• Believing in ME!

God is listening to us!